


Maelstrom

by FlameWolf



Series: Storms of Passion [3]
Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Angst, Extreme Cold Shoulder, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, No Sex, Some Cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 21:17:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8683687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlameWolf/pseuds/FlameWolf
Summary: Poor Haruhi ends up learning just how immature her friends really are.  Thankfully, a much more cooler headed Kyoya is there to help get things back on track.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anyone or anything from Ouran Highschool Host Club. This is just for fun and no profit will be made from it.
> 
>  
> 
> Author’s Note: Dealing with the aftermath of Kyoya’s rather explosive outing of his relationship with Haruhi.

Only a couple days can seem like an eternity when one feels unsure about their place in a cherished group.  Poor Haruhi found herself in such a situation only three days after Kyoya’s rather explosive reveal of their relationship.  At first, it had been met with heavy disbelief; neither the twins or Tamaki willing to believe it until a certain ‘Shadow King’ spelled it out for the trio in very plain language.  Even then, the half french blonde had kept insisting that it was a joke, some cruel ruse that they should stop at once.  He had even gone so far as to order them to put a stop to their nasty prank, something the Ootori heir hadn’t taken kindly to after the huge amount of effort he had put into proving this was legitimate.  It had only been some quick intervention on Mori and Honey’s part that saved the beloved leader from getting scalped.

As it was, things had gone from very hot to almost icy cold and the young woman found herself longing for the arguments.  At least they were better than being treated almost like a pariah by three people she had thought were her friends.  No, it was more than that.  These people were her family, their rejection of her hurting much more than the furious doubt.  The only ones who hadn’t abandoned her seemed to be the cousins, both of them assuring her that the others would cool off soon.  That had nearly been two days ago and even  _ they _ were starting to seem less sure.

The thing that injured her the most was the fact that she was being treated like this for the simple crime of not falling in love with one of them.  With how things were playing out, she found herself increasingly grateful for Kyoya’s cool-headed maturity.  She was fairly certain that if she had chose one of the trio, there would be no end to the bickering or posturing.  She would have ceased to be treated like a human being and more like a trophy that had been won.  The collected ‘Ice Prince’ was more concerned with her feelings and went out of his way to make sure she didn’t feel the loneliness of their rejection as much.  Instead of flaunting the fact that he had won, the dark haired teen simply made room for her at his table; acting as if nothing was wrong at all.

Despite outward appearances, the normally stoic seventeen year old was anything but calm.  Inside he was a boiling cauldron of rage for how his Haruhi’s supposed friends were treating her.  He was well aware of how deeply she felt about them and knew these three had the same awareness, making what they were doing all the more infuriating.  It was if they were trying to punish her, something he was getting sick and tired of.  If these three were really the friends and family they claimed to be, they would be celebrating her newfound happiness; not acting like petulant children who hadn’t gotten a toy.

On top of all that, it seemed like their actions were sapping Haruhi’s bright spirit.  Still, he had never expected things to go this far.  The first day it happened, he had expected it to be only a matter of hours before Tamaki cracked and crawled to her on his knees to plead for her forgiveness.  The fact that it had gone on for three days was enough to make him wonder if he had stepped into an alternate reality.  Frowning as the numbers for the expense report scrolled over his glasses, the youngest Ootori found himself paying more attention to what was going on in the room than to the numbers.  It was then he noticed something that made him put on his ‘daddy pants’.  Every time he heard Haruhi’s voice, there was a hint of tears.

He had wanted to give them time to come around to acting like men, to accepting their loss with grace.  All of that went flying out the window as his acute hearing caught the sound of delicate hiccups barely hidden by a wavery cheer.  The fact that no one noticed, not even their guests, made his teeth set on edge.  Still, he would handle this with a decorum worthy of his title.  Closing his laptop with a quiet ‘snik’, the ‘Shadow King’ pulled himself to his full height before adjusting his tie and glasses.  It was well beyond time this childishness was put to an end.

They weren’t even talking about her, weren’t even looking in her direction.  It was as if she had simply dropped out of their realm of existence.  Just the notion of it made fear tickle over her pale skin with cold feet and she fought just to hang on to the smile she knew she needed to wear for her guests, none of whom knew the truth beneath the boy’s uniform over her body.  You could say she was invisible to them as well in a way, all of them only seeing as far as the lie she had projected for them so she could stay in the Host Club.  None of them saw how much pain she was in behind her terribly fragile smile, just how aware she was of the cold aura rolling off a certain trio lingering in the side of the room furthest from her.

She had never felt less sure of herself and suddenly found herself wanting to do the unthinkable.  For the first time since she had joined, the disguised female found herself seriously considering leaving the Host Club.  She didn’t like how she felt right now and knew it would only get worse from here, Kyoya one of three reasons why she stayed at all.  Speaking of which, she noticed a flash of movement in the direction of the table he was normally seated at; blinking when she saw he was heading toward the twins and Tamaki.  Just seeing the grim look on his face was enough to make her excuse herself from her guests and follow him, genuinely worried he might hurt the three teens.

In all her time with the Host Club, she had only seen the cool-headed Vice President angry a handful of times.  While his anger was less explosive and more cool than most, that didn’t mean it was less frightening.  The Ootori heir had a way of making you feel intimidated without even raising his voice, simply using his presence alone to make you feel the weight of his displeasure.  He wasn’t the type to act violently, allowing his disappointment to do the punishing for him.  While she knew this time was unlikely to be an exception, she wanted to be near-by in case one of the trio tweaked his temper and set off an explosion; something they didn’t need at the height of club hours.

As it turned out, the female behind him was right to be worried.  The closer he got to the three boys, the hotter his blood boiled as his hand flexed subconsciously.  These three were hurting someone they called family and were acting as if it didn’t bother them in the least.  Hikaru and Kaoru were happily playing the ‘Choose the Right Twin’ game while Tamaki practically had himself draped over a freshman who was making her first visit.  In fact, they acted as if the girl he could sense behind him wasn’t there at all; only looking up at him with surprised smiles.  “Hey Kyoya!  Have you met Melanie?  She got curious about us after hearing the other students talking.  Isn’t she just the cutest thing?” the half french teen gushed, his azure eyes never once shifting to the side to acknowledge Haruhi in the background.

“May I have a word with you and the Hitachiins?” gritted out the ‘Ice Prince’, barely able to keep his voice even as he felt his nostrils flare.

Even when that group of assholes had shoved Haruhi off that cliff, Kyoya couldn’t ever remember being this pissed off before.  Their blatant disregard for someone they had put on a pedestal a mere handful of days ago nearly made him see red and he found himself having to take a deep breath and count to ten so he wouldn’t just punch the trio.  Thankfully they agreed without incident, albeit very confused as they followed him to the room only he had a key to.  Turning his head slightly, he gave a brief nod to Haruhi as well; hoping she would pick up on the fact he wanted her there too.

Doing her best to ignore the horrible treatment of her dear companions, the brown haired femme had barely caught the subtle nod Kyo had given her.  Not really wanting to but knowing she really didn’t have a choice, the uniform clad girl followed her lover and three friends into a room she had only seen once.  Just thinking about her time in here made her flush despite her misery and she could only hope the trio were too determined to ignore her to notice.  A sudden movement in front of them startled her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see her young lover giving the three other teens a glare fit to make even the sternest man cower.  Every line in his lean body spoke of his fury, his muscles shaking subtly as he shoved his glasses up on his nose reflexively.

Even the confident Tamaki looked intimidated, his cheery smile fading for a look of concern as he began to shift unsurely.  The Hitachiins were likewise ill at ease, looking at eachother as well as their leader before shifting focus to the fuming vice president.  After a few seconds, the trio collectively came up as a loss and gave the teen varying looks of confusion.  Recognizing the expressions, Haruhi began to beg silently for them to not be that stupid.  Surely even boys as thickheaded as they could be wouldn’t possibly be that oblivious.  As if in slow motion, she watched as Hikaru began to open his mouth; the question that came out making her wish she could fling herself in the way.  “What’s the matter Kyoya?” he inquired, as if there was nothing wrong in the first place.

Those words uttered so innocently filled his vision with deep crimson as his anger reached a critical point.  Calling on the generations of his family’s pride to refrain from slapping all three of them, the teen took off his glasses to clean them; taking the opportunity to take a few deep breaths to center himself.  “Think about that question for a few moments and then ask yourself if it really needed to be asked in the first place.  If you still do not understand after that, I am afraid I will not be responsible for my behavior,” he snarled, his voice a shadow of what it would become when he was older.  It was no surprise to him when the three across from him only looked more confused.  Fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation, the youngest Ootori replaced his glasses before leveling them with a scowl worthy of his father.

The fact they cowered before him did wonders to assuage the building fury inside him but that was rapidly undone by the fact they still looked mostly puzzled.  Closing his eyes, he was about to launch into a lecture when he felt a gentle tug on the sleeve of his uniform.  Turning his head, he felt his ire blaze back to life when he saw the tear-filled gaze of Haruhi.  Her normally cheerful brown gaze was full of so much pain and sorrow that he came dangerously close to letting go of thousands of years of reputation.  “I-it’s okay Kyo.  They d-don’t have to say anything else.  Can we just go?” she whispered, her voice holding none of the fight it usually did.

Their silence was like a physical assault, nearly rocking her back on her heels as she felt her heart begin to shatter.  All she wanted was to escape the situation, she could pick up the pieces of her shattered feelings later.  Instead of allowing this, she felt herself get shoved in front of Kyoya; firm hands holding her upper arms in a grip that was almost painful.  The effect was immediate and only served to drive the splintered stake further into her heart.  The expressions of her friends ranged from disgusted to outright furious as they avoided looking at her altogether.  Whimpering, she clamped her mouth shut against the pleas that threatened to bubble free.  “Are you so heartless that you don’t care for her happiness at all?  Were you ever her friends in the first place or were you just acting like it until she decided to choose one of you.  With how things are going, it would have been worse if she had,” came the far away voice of the infamous ‘Shadow King’.

To their credit, all three of them flinched as thoughtful expressions crossed their faces.  Still, the fact that they had to think about it at all stung and she feel an anger she wasn’t accustomed to rise inside her.  Feeling her hands curl into fists, Haruhi moved out of Kyoya’s grip without even meaning to; feeling a thrill of vindication when the trio flinched away from her.  “You didn’t even stop to think about how all of this would make me feel.  I can’t believe you three!  Do you have any idea just how alone, how unwanted I felt for these past three days?!  I think of this club as my family!” she snarled, her voice raising only slightly as she allowed her anger and hurt to come to the forefront.  The twins winced as if slapped while all the color drained from Tamaki’s face, telling her an answer she would have never suspected from them.  Closing her eyes, the young brunette took several deep breaths to calm herself.

“Haruhi...  I know there’s no way any of us can make up what we did.  Any explanation we come up with would just sound like an excuse and you deserve better than that.  We’ll do what we can to make sure you know how sorry we are for our mistreatment of you.  As it is, I think it best we give you some space,” Tamaki whispered, sounding surprisingly serious given the situation.  To be honest, the disguised female was a bit take aback by how maturely he had handled getting chastised by both her and Kyoya.

Normally, the blonde would have burst into over dramatic tears before sliding to his knees and begging for forgiveness as if he were a peasant placating a king.  The twins also handled being scolded rather well, looking actually contrite instead of haughty.  Already, they were taking steps in the right direction to regain her trust.  Giving them a small smile to tell them she was already on her way to forgiving them, Haruhi watched as the three filed out of the room; leaving her with a silent Kyo.

He was stunned to silence, not expecting any of what happened to happen.  Shaking his head, the ‘Ice Prince’ looked down at his girlfriend with a soft smile.  “You did well.  You’ll make a great Ootori some day,” he purred, feeling a flash of satisfaction when she flushed prettily.

“You don’t mean that Kyo.  We’re only kids.  We haven’t even graduated high school yet.  You still have time to find someone worthy of you and your family name,” came her humble response as she avoided his gaze, her words firing up his ire once more.

Before he could stop them, his hands were shooting out to grab her upper arms in a punishing grip as he yanked her toward him.  Once she was close, he loosened his grasp slightly as he took a deep breath to regain some control.  Especially since she was looking up at him like a frightened rabbit, both playing with the predator inside him and making him feel guilt for scaring her.  “You of all people should know I mean everything I say.  You also know I don’t give my affection or trust easily.  If I have my way, I will ask you to marry me as soon as I deem us old enough,” he hissed, his fingers twitching on her soft skin.

The expression of confused hope that crossed her beautiful face was enough to make any further irritation simply go away.  She truly didn’t believe she was good enough, a lot of that probably having to do with the fact that she’s a commoner.  “Did you really think this was some teenage fling?  That I would only stay with you until I found someone my family would approve of?” he murmured releasing one of her arms to cup her cheek.  When she gave a small nod, he felt his heart twist in his chest.

“My family has no standing.  We’ve always been middle class.  To think you were serious about me would be silly.  Your dad could never accept me so I thought...,” whispered her sweet voice, the doubt it held making him wrap his arms around her to hold her against his lean body.

“Do you think I really care about what my father says in regards to my relationships?  There are a lot of things I allow him to command but my heart isn’t one of them,” he snarled before taking her lips in a passionate kiss.  Still, even as his tongue swept over hers, he found himself thinking about what she had said.

Neither of their parents knew they were dating and he hadn’t exactly asked Ranka’s permission to go out with Haruhi.  Frowning slightly, he pulled away from her softness to give her a look full of regret.  “I’m afraid we haven’t been doing this properly since day one.  We will have to hold off on any further dating activity until I meet your father and vice versa.  I am very serious about this relationship and, while I don’t care about my own family’s opinion, I know you hold your own father in high regard.  It would be an insult to you both if we continued without his permission,” he declared, giving her forehead a kiss as he pulled away reluctantly.

As much as she hated to admit it, his words rang true and she sighed as she gave a nod.  To be honest, she was surprised she hadn’t thought of her father earlier, especially given just how protective he was.  It would be best if they put things on hold until she broached the subject with him.  “Just do me a favor,” came a rumble from in front of her, drawing her to look up at the much taller male.

“What Kyo?” she whispered, tilting her head slightly as curiosity filled her.  When he released her to clasp her hands in his much larger ones, it felt like her heart had skipped a beat as a strange heat rushed through her body.

“Don’t take too long this time?” whispered his slightly gruff baritone, the reference to how long it took her to tell her friends making a spike of guilt stab her heart.

Standing on her tiptoes to kiss under his chin, she allowed her arm to slip loosely around his thin waist.  “I’ll bring it up tonight but I don’t think he’ll come around immediately.  He still very much sees me as his little girl, someone he needs to protect.  Don’t expect a warm welcome though,” she whispered, feeling slightly less apprehensive when she heard a gruff chuckle roll up from his diaphragm.

“I have the same warning about my own.  He will not treat you fairly simply because you are what he considers lower.  Even your grades will not be enough to win him over but none of that will matter.  All he will care about is that I asked for his approval.  Anything beyond that is inconsequential as far as I go.  I’m not in the running to inherit anything too important.  As cruel as it sounds, he will more than likely write off my decisions as unimportant,” he replied, his words filling her with sympathy as well as a sense of horror.

As cared for as she was, it was hard for her to imagine a family that was anything but loving.  Just hearing his description of his patriarch made the girl’s heart ache for the boy and she found herself wanting to yell at the man if not for Kyoya’s sake.  Still, she had the horrible feeling that this kind of neglect was depressingly normal in high society.  All too often, the parents were more concerned about the power behind their name than the happiness of their children.  To these people, kids were nothing but a commodity; a way to pass on their name and bloodline to a new generation.  It had become far too important to maintain an image over a functioning family unit.  So, simply nodding, she leaned into the young man holding her; inwardly dreading the upcoming meetings.


End file.
